Selected work / Individual reflective writing
When more meetings weren't the answer
A reflection on the difference between wanting a team to succeed and understanding what actually helps it work well.
The project in context
What I worked on, and why it matters.
Situation
Our team had different views about meeting frequency. I associated more meetings with better progress, while others felt the meetings could be too frequent or unproductive.
Task
I needed to reflect on our learning conversation and explain how my intentions were affecting my teammates.
Action
I listened to the team's differing perspectives, acknowledged the workload others had carried, and wrote about our move toward clearer agendas and more individual preparation before meetings.
Result
The reflection documents a change in my approach while we were preparing the third presentation. It also gives me a specific leadership principle to keep practicing: evaluate the usefulness of team time, not just its frequency.
The original individual work
Intention vs. Impact
Christopher Cangelosi · October 11, 2026
One thing I appreciated most about our storming session was that everyone walked away with a better understanding of each other's expectations. In our first two presentations, I think we sometimes had different ideas about what productive teamwork looked like. Hearing everyone's perspectives helped clear all that up, and I've already noticed a difference while working on this third presentation. Our team has been more organized, and it feels like everyone is working toward the same goal. I also appreciated receiving honest feedback, even when it challenged how I had been approaching things.
One of the biggest issues we discussed was how we used our meeting time. I felt we weren't meeting enough because we weren't making sufficient progress, while other teammate(s) felt we met too often without accomplishing much. Looking back, I can understand both perspectives. The real issue wasn't necessarily the number of meetings, but more so how prepared and productive we were. For presentation three, we've started setting agendas and completing as much of our individual work as possible beforehand, allowing us to meet less frequently while still getting more done.
During the conversation, I also tried to recognize a teammate who carried much of the workload on our previous presentation. I wanted their contributions to be acknowledged and for us to find a better way to divide responsibilities. Personally, I learned that my desire to meet frequently, although coming from good intentions, wasn't always helping the team. From a leaders perspective, I realized that my impact isn't determined by how often I bring everyone together, but by how effectively I can help the team use the time that we have.
Original submitted text reproduced from D2L. The wording is retained as a record of my reflection at that point in the semester.
Looking back
A useful change still needs consistent practice.
This reflection shows that I had begun changing how we prepared for meetings. Later feedback continued to ask for clearer goals and more openness to different approaches. I see that as a reason to keep practicing these habits, rather than treating one conversation as a finished solution.
Read the evidence and my next stepsA conversation is a good place to start